


In The Winter, We Fall...

by ImperfectSnow



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-11-08
Updated: 2012-11-08
Packaged: 2017-11-18 06:04:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/557721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImperfectSnow/pseuds/ImperfectSnow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The connection between Uchiha Itachi and Haruno Sakura is a point of strain - having a demented younger brother on one's trail only makes it worse. Read through the struggles that these two must face. (This story is old, but I don't have the heart to delete it - It was my first!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	In The Winter, We Fall...

 

 Sakura found herself in the strangest situation. Well, it wasn't strange per se… it was just that she had never thought that she would find herself standing in between one, Uchiha Sasuke and one, Uchiha Itachi.

 

To be more precise about her predicament, Haruno Sakura, age 19, was standing in a field 27.5 Kilometers from the gates of Konoha in a Snow ridden clearing, wearing her ninja gear and an Akatsuki cloak belonging to one, Uchiha Itachi. Isn't that strange?

 

To be a little more precise about her predicament, Haruno Sakura, age 19, was standing in a snow ridden field waiting to choose one Uchiha over another. How on Earth did that happen?

 

Let's go back, to a time where the flowers were in full bloom in Konoha and the Sakura blossoms blew in the wind…

 

**Spring**

 

Sakura walked down the streets of Konoha with a bag of groceries in one hand and a bouquet of lilies in the other. She made her way down the street and received a few appreciative grins and glances from a few of the town shinobi men and even a few of the random civilians. By this age Sakura was catching the attention of many male shinobi. The reasons for this was because her body had finally filled out and people were noticing, Sakura always resented the fact that her body hadn't become luscious and filled out like Ino's at the age of 16. She had to wait 3 more years for her body to catch up. Ino, however, had ragged on her for all of those 3 years about her lacking in the chest areas as well as her small hips and straight waist. The time was here for payback.

 

Sakura dropped off her groceries at her small apartment before making her way to the hospital. She wanted to take the lilies to Kakashi before starting her shift. He had recently returned from a mission with a serious gash on his torso, as well as being severely worn out from over using his Sharingan. She thought she might scald him a bit about overworking…maybe.

 

Upon arriving at Kakashi's hospital room she knocked lightly and then slipped in. His blinds were still drawn and he appeared to be sleeping, but Sakura knew better. She put the lilies into the vase beside his bed and then pulled the chord to open lift the blinds, as she did the sunlight from outside filtered the room and Sakura basked in the feeling of warmth, Kakashi, however, wasn't as happy about the intrusion of the sunlight as she was. He groaned and pulled the covers over his head and turned away from the window. Sakura giggled and then opened the window as wide as it would go.

 

Kakashi poked his head out from under the covers and gracefully told her to 'Get lost' which she duly ignored. He didn't seem to be in a very good mood this morning, but she was going to change that. The reason for his bad mood most certainly had something to do with his lack of "Reading material". She knew her sensei all too well and so she took two small orange books from her kunai pouch. The way her sensei's face lit up at the sight of those books, she could have sworn he was a four year old child receiving a sweet. Although, she supposed, in a way he was receiving something of equal importance…

 

Now that his mood had lightened and he was gripping the books like it depended on his life, she took a seat next to his bed and waited for him to be serious again.

 

"Kakashi-sensei" she prompted him to focus.

 

"Hn" was the only response she got as he started thumbing through the books

 

"Hatake Kakashi, if you don't put those books down and focus, I will make sure that you are incapacitated for much, much longer than 2 weeks" Sakura's threat seemed to get through to him as he promptly placed the books on his side table.

 

"Yes, what would you like to discuss, Sakura-sama?" he said with mock politeness, his tone only earned him a painful stab in the side with her strong fingers. Wincing, he looked at her again while rubbing his side and finally resumed his 'real' serious face

 

"Yes… I know" and he nodded gravely.

 

"What are we going to do about Him?" Sakura's voice was laced with concern and urgency,

 

"I don't know, but I know that we have to make sure He doesn't find out about them or get anywhere near that area." He turned to Sakura and his face was very serious as the morning light hit him "That's all we can do…unfortunately" Sakura nodded and then smiled politely as she got up and fixed Kakashi's bedding

 

"Get better soon Sensei, we'll talk again later, I'm off to work my shift". Kakashi's nose was already in one of the books she brought him by the time she was finished with his bedding, Sakura just sighed and left quietly.

 

________________________________________________________________________

 

"The matter has gotten worse, they're getting closer to the border, and what are we going to do about Him?" Shizune's urgent voice sounded as she paced in front of Tsunade's desk in Hokage tower.

 

"Shizune!" Tsunade's strict voice stopped her assistant in her pacing tracks

 

"Yes!" Shizune was now directly in front of the Hokage's desk,

 

"Stop wearing a line into my floor! As for the matter, we will call a meeting and inform Him of the situation; He will be contained in the village and will not be allowed to leave with any of the teams. I will create new teams to sort out the threats." Tsunade massaged her temples to try and avoid the oncoming headache. "Is that understood? Call a meeting and call the following members…"

 

It was 2:00pm and there was a meeting in the Hokage's office. The following Jounin were present; Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata, Shikamaru, Ino, Kiba, Neji and Tenten. 

 

"Alright, before I debrief you on your missions, I'm going to tell you your Team allocations." The Hogake said firmly, "Right, Team 1 will consist of Naruto, Hinata and Shikamaru. Team 2 will consist of Neji, Kiba, Ino and Tenten." Tsunade finished reading off the first 2 teams and looked up from her scroll. "Are the Teams understood?" Tsunade raised her eyebrow to see if any objections occurred. Sakura fidgeted slightly before speaking. 

 

"Tsunade-shishou what abo-" Tsunade cut her off before she could finish 

 

"I have a special mission for you, Sakura" The ccherry blossom looked slightly shocked but nodded and stepped back. Tsunade then looked at Sasuke who looked completely disinterested, "Uchiha, you better start looking a little more interested in the situation before you get on my nerves!" Sasuke then made an attempt to plaster a look of interest on his face. Tsunade nodded and then proceeded to speak to the Uchiha "Furthermore, you will be taken into ANBU custody until the following Team's missions are over." Sasuke's face flashed with sudden confusion and then anger and he struggled to regain composure 

 

"Why, Tsunade-sama?" Sasuke somehow managed to keep the rage out of his voice; instead he bunched his fists into his pockets. 

 

"The situation is as follows; Akatsuki is on the border of the Fire Country, and as you all know, their strength is devastating. It is thought that they have a hide-out somewhere inside the border of the Fire Country and are moving towards it. The reason you, Uchiha Sasuke, are being taken into custody for the time being is because Uchiha Itachi – presumed dead- may be amongst them, and we are protecting you against him, as well as trying to avoid any unnecessary conflict. Is that understood?" Sasuke's shocked expression was stuck on his face as Tsunade's report sunk in. "Sasuke, I'm going to have to ask you to step outside while I report the entire mission to these teams. Shizune will escort you to the ANBU facility that you will be staying at." Tsunade gave Sasuke a look that told him to get moving. Sasuke managed to move his body into action and stepped out of the Hokage's office.

 

"Obaa-sama! We need Sasuke; he's a part of our team!" Naruto's whining penetrated Tsunade's head and the dull throbbing of her headache became more prominent. "Naruto, shut it!" was Tsunade's only response. Naruto immediately shut his mouth but still thought of things he could say to the old bag. "Alright, the plan is for Team 1 to run the entire border for traces on Akatsuki movement and then report back via communication hawk. Keep tabs at all the check stations and go to all the guard houses. If you encounter any Akatsuki, try to avoid a fight, but if that is impossible you have to kill or immobilize the attacker, do not by any means let them escape." Tsunade took a breath and the handed a scroll to Shikamaru "Nara Shikamaru is team captain. Alright get ready and then regroup at the gates, you leave in half an hour!" Immediately Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata dispersed leaving the room with Sakura, Neji, Kiba, Ino and Tenten standing determinedly before the Slug Princess. "As for Team 2, you will head straight to the centre point, across the rogue country, you will collect information about all the members of Akatsuki from the neighbouring countries, Neji is your Team Captain." She handed two scrolls to Neji "The second scroll is for the Kazekage when you reach the Sand Country. Give it to him; he'll know what to do. Right! Get ready and regroup at the gates, you leave in half an hour."

 

Sakura was very anxious to know why she hadn't been placed in a team, and why she was getting a "special mission". She hadn't been on many solo missions, but from the ones that she had been on, they weren't too bad, except for the fact that she had no one to talk to while traveling, and couldn't convey her ideas to a team mate. She waited in front of Tsunade's desk as the Hokage sorted through papers, presumably for her. Finally the Hokage looked up and handed her a sheet of paper. Sakura scanned the document and her eyes grew wide from the information she read.

 

"How can this be? You said that he was dead! You told Sasuke that he was dead! I know his death was only an assumption because we couldn't find a body, but it had to be true, it just had to be true! I can't believe this, I can't handle that again Shishou, and I can't handle it again!" Sakura fell into the chair opposite Tsunade's desk and stared at her Shishou, hoping for an answer that made sense. 

 

"Sakura, I know that you are more involved personally in this subject than most of the shinobi, but the council and I feel that you are the only Jounin qualified and stable enough to handle this situation... especially this situation. I know that you can handle it." Tsunade gave Sakura a reassuring glance and then handed her a scroll. Inside this scroll was a list of what Sakura would need and a debriefing on what she had to do. That was the hardest part. "I assume you understand your goal, Sakura." Tsunade gave her a stern look 

 

"Yes, Tsunade-shishou," with that Sakura stood up from her seat and made for the door 

 

"Sakura, you leave in 45 minutes, good luck" She gave the Hime a somnolent smile and left the office.

 

Sakura made her way to the hospital in a very fast run after packing her backpack. She needed to talk to Kakashi before she left. When she arrived at his room she burst inside, Kakashi was sitting at the window wearing his Jounin pants and a solemn smile 

 

"I heard about your mission" he said sadly, Sakura was catching her breath from running to the hospital 

 

"oh…yes…what must…I do…Kakashi-Sensei?" she said between breaths. Kakashi looked out the window for a moment and then got up from his chair and walked over to Sakura, who had regained her breath and had started to cry silently 

 

"You must make the decision that many Shinobi have been forced to make," he took her by her shoulders and pulled her into his arms in a friendly embrace, Sakura was too broken to question him so she brought her arms around his waist and cried into his bandaged chest. Kakashi bent his head and kissed her on the top of her head 

 

"I'm so scared" she whispered into his chest 

 

"I know you are, but don't forget that I'm here, waiting for you and supporting you no matter what you do, ok?" Sakura squeezed him tightly and then looked up with tear glistening eye 

 

"Thank you…" he smiled down at her and then put her at arms length and fixed up her hair and cleaned the tears from her eyes 

 

"You go now and make me proud" he smile at her and gave her a friendly goodbye kiss on her forehead. She smiled a sad smile and gave him one last hug before turning around and leaving. Kakashi sighed, he knew that this mission was going to one of the hardest his young student would have to face, and he wished he could protect her from it. He knew that that may have been the last time that he would ever speak to Haruno Sakura ever again…

 

Sakura was standing at the Konoha gates with her backpack, there were no people there to say goodbye to her, there were no friends to hug her and tell her to come back safe, and she was glad, because she didn't want her friends to see the tears slipping down her cheeks, and she didn't want to have to make her goodbyes final. Slowly she stepped through the gates and turned around to say goodbye to the Konoha she knew and loved. Just as she burned the sight and sound of Konoha into her mind a warm spring breeze blew across the entire village and with it was a stream of Cherry blossoms. Not many knew, but that was the final goodbye and the final blooming of the Sakura blossoms in Konoha.

 

________________________________________________________________________

 

Team 1 had been racing through the forest for 2 hours now at high speed. Naruto's stamina was high as usual and he raced ahead of Hinata and Shikamaru. 

 

"Naruto, let's stop for the night, we need to discuss our plan and tactics." Shikamaru shouted to Naruto 

 

"Alright! There's a clearing coming up ahead, we'll stop there" Naruto slowed down a bit and then jump down through the trees before landing with a soft thud. 

 

"Hinata, you set out the mats and start a fire, Naruto you go fetch some food for us to eat and I'll start devising a plan" Shikamaru took his mat out from his backpack and placed himself on it. 

 

"Wait! That's all you're going to do? Me and Hinata are getting everything ready while you sit on your lazy ass and think?" Shikamaru stared at Naruto as if he just crawled out from under a rock. "Well?" Naruto prodded 

 

"Well what?" Shikamaru, as smart as he was, couldn't see Naruto's logic. 

 

"Well, that's not entirely fair! Hinata, don't you agree?" Hinata turned from placing Naruto's bed mat to see that Shikamaru and Naruto were both looking at her, Naruto was tapping his foot waiting for an answer; Shikamaru looked too bored to care, but stared at her anyway 

 

"We-well… Shikamaru is very smart; s-so I think that if he can come up with a good p-plan for us, then we might do well on this mission…" Hinata stepped back and looked at Naruto meekly before stumbling on a rock and landing on Naruto's mat with a thud, Naruto and Shikamaru stared at her and after a few moments burst into fits of laughter. 

 

"That was hilarious!" Naruto chimed as he leaned against a tree for leverage 

 

"Hinata you should be more careful with where you walk!" Shikamaru added in with a tone of amusement. Hinata's face was a deep crimson as she watched the two boys giggling at her faulty foot work. Her eyes started to well up with tears; she was too embarrassed to find anything funny. 

 

"Oh, Hinata, don't cry…I'm sorry, but you have to admit, that was pretty funny" Naruto tried to soothe her as he moved closer to her and sat down on the mat too. Her eyes widened as he hugged her with one arm and appeased her. She was flush against his side; she had never been that close to him. "But, Hinata you really need to be a little less sensitive, next time something like this happens; promise to laugh with us instead of crying, ok?" Naruto squeezed her shoulder and then got up off the mat. "Well, I'm starved; I'm going to get us some dinner." Shikamaru just shrugged and took up his customary "thinking" position. Hinata still tingled from Naruto's touch and dried her tears. It was quite funny.

 

________________________________________________________________________

 

Team 2 was already settled into a small camp and Kiba was cooking some fish from a nearby stream for the group. Ino and Tenten were sitting on one of the mats talking about recent happenings in the village. Gossip. Neji was nowhere to be seen. Finally, the food was done and Kiba grabbed two sticks with roasted fish on them and began eating, of course, Akamaru got one of those fish sticks. The two kunoichi also grabbed a stick each and began nibbling while the continued their conversation. Neji appeared out of a bunch of trees with his shirt tied around his waist and his hair dripping with water, his juin was still covered with a small headband. Ino and Tenten looked up from their conversation and Ino gaped at the sight before her, Tenten slapped her lightly on the arm 

 

"Would you stop ogling, he's my friend and you're making me uncomfortable." Ino took almost no heed of Tenten's scolding and proceeded to ogle 

 

"Hey, who are you and what'd you do with Neji?" she flashed a grin at him and he narrowed his eyes a bit before sitting down on his mat opposite Ino, on the other side of the fire. Ino cackled a little bit and then turned to Tenten to continue their conversation. Kiba, who felt slightly rejected because of Ino's comment about Neji, so he stood up and took his shirt off, thus flexing his muscles, Ino and Tenten laughed and held onto each other to compose themselves 

 

"What? Never seen a real man before?" Kiba prodded while still flexing his muscles. Ino threw a small log at him before giggling again 

 

"Kiba, shut up and sit down" Kiba, feeling slightly wounded sat down and crossed his arms over his chest. Ino could have sworn she saw his bottom lip pushed out in a pout. She giggled again and turned to Tenten. Men are so childish.

 

________________________________________________________________________

 

Sakura was still walking down the forest path, truth be told, she didn't want to rush; she just wanted to experience the forest. It was already around 8:30pm and she thought she should stop to set up camp and eat dinner, but she wasn't tired and she wasn't hungry. By this time she had taken off her Jounin jacket and long pants, because the spring air was warm and she wanted to feel it on her skin. She was left in her sleeveless black Jounin vest and a pair of black shorts that she wore underneath. Her weapons pouches were still strapped to her legs and she kept a kunai strapped to her stomach in her bandages, as a precaution.

 

After about fifteen minutes she found a clearing where she started to set up camp. She skipped making a fire and instead set up her bed mat. She sat down with a peach in her hand that she had taken out of her backpack and a flashlight, reaching for her bag, she took out her mission scroll and the piece of paper Tsunade gave her. Pointing the torch at the parchments she started to read through them again, this time taking in every detail of her mission and formulating a plan in her head. This wasn't going to be easy, especially on her emotions.

 

Finally, Sakura had formulated a plan and turned off the torch, thrown away the half eaten peach and crawled onto her mat. When she went on solo missions, she hardly slept because she needed to keep an eye and ear out for any approaching threats. Usually when she went on missions with Team 7 Kakashi would be their main look out so that the rest of them could get some sleep. Now, however, she was fully awake and vigilant. It was going to be a long night.

 

________________________________________________________________________

 

Kakashi was exhausted, he hadn't been able to get any rest because he was worried about Sakura, it wasn't like him to worry to the point of not sleeping, and he was so worried that he didn't even read the two books Sakura had brought him. Tsunade had come in earlier to do a check up on him and he had asked if she had heard anything from Sakura or any of the other teams. Tsunade just shook her head and asked him to lie down for the check up. He didn't know what to do with himself. A thought occurred to him just then, and he decided that he was going to carry that thought out and make it an action…

 

________________________________________________________________________

 

Sakura had awoken the next morning with a start; she hadn't expected to fall asleep while she was supposed to be focused. Taking a look around the area for any potential threats, sensing none, she fixed up her appearance and then packed her stuff, heading back onto the trail. This time she was going to race through the trees to her destination. The only reason she was chosen for this mission was because of her connection to the subject, the fact that she could sense an Uchiha within a four mile radius also helped. Her mission was going to hurt her, in ways that she never wanted to be hurt again.

 

Over the years, her relationship with the youngest of the Uchiha brothers had become that of a very strong friendship, the type of friendship that people form over years and years of companionship and hard work. Even if they lost touch for a while they would come back to each other somehow and continue their relationship, it was just the way it went.

 

Naruto was a different story, he was as close as she had to a best friend, although she never really got close enough with anybody to really have a best friend, she loved Naruto and Sasuke, as friends, but somehow after what happened, she never got close to anybody, except maybe Kakashi, but that was just because he somehow had an immunity to her problem. He also forced himself into her life until she had no choice but to give up and let him in.

 

Of course she had lots of friends, you know, the type of friends that you got together with at a pub and drank and danced and the occasional "accidental" one night stand with a few of them –Kiba, Shikamaru, Kankuro, Genma…- but in the end, it only brought the group closer. Even Gaara would join in a few of their little parties, sometimes even getting cozy with Ino, although he would never admit it. All in all, they had good time. And she would miss that, more than they would know.

 

Sakura was reminiscing about the past, all the times she had drunk herself into a stupor and had to be carried home by one of the still sober males, either Sasuke or Neji, usually. The times she would get hurt at training and Kakashi would carry her to the hospital even though she could walk. When she lost 'it' to Kiba in the storeroom of the Hokage tower after a particularly hard mission. Laughing about it afterwards. Trying to play Shouji with Shikamaru and ending up rolling around in his room instead. Laughing about that too. Kankuro showing her his "puppets" after a long night of drinking. Kissing him goodbye as he left for Suna. Staying friends even after that. Partying with Kakashi and his friends, Genma, Iruka, Gai and the rest of the older Jounin. Being taught some "new moves for missions" by Genma. Laughing about it and being ribbed for it every time she met with the group after that. Enjoying life, with her friends. And most of all, enjoying her friends.

 

Sakura had had a good life, hell, even a great life, full of aches and pains, love and friends. Laughing and crying, then laughing about crying. Sometimes even laughing while crying! She wouldn't trade the life she'd had for any other life. She'd already gotten everything she wanted, and more. Even though she had found her perfect person and had him taken away from her, and then gone to get him back, only to find that he wasn't the person she thought he was. She'd been through many shocks, some bigger than others. Some good, some…not so good. At the end of the day, if she had to die, she regretted nothing.

 

________________________________________________________________________

 

Naruto, Hinata and Shikamaru had been traveling for four hours now and the effects were beginning to wear on Hinata. 

 

"Shikamaru…please, can we…stop…for a bit…" she pleaded between pants. Shikamaru nodded and raced forward to be parallel with Naruto 

 

"Hey Naruto, can we stop a bit Hinata is tired and I'm a bit tired myself. In any case, it's time for lunch" Naruto thought about it for a moment and then descended to the lower levels of the forest. All three of them sat in a cozy circle eating a few snacks that Hinata was carrying.

 

All of a sudden Hinata was backing up and shacking frantically, Naruto immediately got up and walked towards her 

 

"Hinata, what's the matter?" Hinata only pushed herself further away from the two men and started screaming while looking around frantically. Shikamaru walked up to Hinata's discarded fruit and examined it closely, then took something out of his bag. Naruto was still trying to advance on Hinata but she was screaming and kicking at the ground for him to stay way from her. Naruto stopped walking 

 

"Get away from me!" Hinata screamed "Help! Somebody help me!" Hinata's screams turned into fits of crying and fear broke into her voice "Naruto! Naruto! Help me! Where are you? Naruto!" Hinata desperate plea for Naruto shocked him. So he jumped up and landed behind Hinata, dragging her backwards so that he was leaning against the tree with her in front of him. "Let go! Help! Please! Don't hurt me!" Hinata screamed and then activated Byakugan to try and fight off her attacker. Naruto pulled his arms around her and sank down the tree so that they were sitting and Hinata was in his lap. He had wrapped his arms around her and was restraining her hands so that she couldn't attack him at his Chakra channels. Her pleas turned into sobs of despair as Naruto tried to calm her. Eventually he had his mouth by her ear and was whispering soothing words so that she would realize that it was him and not any attacker. "Naruto…help me…" Hinata mumbled these words over and over.

 

Finally Shikamaru spoke from his position on the other side of the clearing; he was leaning in a sitting position against a tree with his "thinking" position in tact. "It's food poisoning. I don't know when it happened but it had an instantaneous effect, we should be careful from now on with what we eat. I don't think it will harm her body in any way, but it had the same affect as Genjutsu on her mind. She's seemed to have calmed down though. I think that the best thing to do is go get her washed off in the stream for any poison on her physical body and then get her into a bed to sleep off its affects. It's troublesome, but we've wasted a lot of time here, it would be a waste to travel at night with her so disoriented. It also would help to have our 'Eyes' out of action." Shikamaru stood up and walked over to Naruto with the trembling Hinata in his grip. Shikamaru leaned down to pick her up, but she only started to tremble more. "You better do it, Naruto. Take her to the stream and get her cleaned off, remember to wash her hair for any traces. Now, go!" Naruto released his grips and then put one arm under Hinata's legs and the other under back and lifted her off the ground. Hinata curled into his shoulder.

 

At the stream Naruto peeled off Hinata clothes and put her into the water then he took off his shirt and shoes and climbed in with her. Holding Hinata's fragile and trembling form he began to wipe her skin clean of any traces of dirt that might have poison. The whole ordeal of having Hinata quivering in his arms and asking him to help her, made Naruto feel very protective of her, she was so weak and fragile in the time that he held her, all he wanted to do now was help her in any way he could. Even though she was naked and he was washing her, he felt no perversities towards her naked form. She was very attractive, but right now, she was delicate.

 

Once he had cleaned Hinata as well as he could in the water, he dried her with his jacket and dressed her again. Her hair was wet so he tried to dry it as best he could so she wouldn't get sick. He then carried her back to the clearing where Shikamaru had started a fire and prepared Hinata's bed mat. Naruto placed her on the mat and covered her with her thin blanket. He then smoothed her hair down and sat next to her as he watched her eyes droop and finally slip closed. When he was certain that she was asleep he tightened the covers and moved over to Shikamaru's mat where he was looking through a few notes. 

 

"What does the situation look like?" Naruto asked with concern and a slight touch of anger tainting his tone. 

 

"I suspect that maybe a spy for Akatsuki, someone they are paying, likely goes through this area to make sure that any teams following them are slowed down before he can report the amount of teams that are after them, but that's just theory. The poison was very miniscule but still incredibly strong, I took some samples to be sent off by hawk, I'll send them through in the morning." Shikamaru's brow creased as he thought of something else 

 

"What is it?" Naruto asked. 

 

"It's just that, she seems almost in the state of mind of a child, I hope the effects wear off by morning, this could have terrible possession on her mind, and that's not good. But then again, she is a Hyuuga, and they are very strong in working against mind tricks, even if it is a mind trick in the form of a poison." Naruto nodded and the looked over at Hinata, suddenly he got up and dragged his mat over next to her and lay down facing her. He wanted to be next to her and protect her against anything else. He never wanted to see her break down and be so volatile again. Naruto got under his covers and signaled to Shikamaru a 'Goodnight' then watched Hinata as she slept, not planning to actually 'sleep' himself.

 

By morning, Naruto was leaning back against a tree with Hinata's head in his lap and unconsciously stroking her hair. During the night, the Hyuuga had awoken in fits of shivers and moaning, obviously having a nightmare of some sort, and Naruto had comforted her by sitting in his current position and talking her back to sleep while stroking her hair. Hinata had only awoken a few more times after that, but was lulled to sleep in a matter of minutes. Shikamaru was up and getting ready by 6:00am, at 6:30 he had sent the hawk to Konoha with the poison sample and Naruto had woken Hinata up and helped her have a bit of breakfast, observably checking the food first. By 7:30 Naruto and Shikamaru were ready and Hinata was still sitting timidly by a tree. The blonde walked up to her and then kneeled to talk to her 

 

"Hinata, we need to get going now, I'm going to put you on my back so that we can go, ok?" Hinata only nodded her head slightly as Naruto lifted her gently and put her onto his back. Shikamaru carried all three of their packs and walked in front of them. They would have to walk the trail for the moment until they could get to the nearest village and get Hinata to a hospital to be examined by a medic.

 

"Na-Naruto?" Hinata meek voice sounded next to Naruto's ear 

 

"Yes, Hinata?" Naruto asked gently. 

 

"Why am I on y-your back?" Hinata asked a little dumbfounded. 

 

"Because we need to get you to a hospital" the Kyuubi container responded kindly. 

 

"Why? What's wrong with me?" the white eyed Hyuuga's voice started to gain a tone of emergence 

 

"Shikamaru, I think she's back" Naruto spoke to Shikamaru "She wants to know why we're taking her to a hospital" Shikamaru stopped walking and turned around, Naruto walked up to him and Shikamaru spoke over his shoulder to Hinata 

 

"Hinata, yesterday afternoon you were poisoned, Naruto stopped you from hurting yourself and washed all the toxins off you in the river, you've been asleep all night and now we need to take you to a medic to see if you're alright"

 

Shikamaru put the back of his hand on her forehead to feel if she had a fever, at the indication that she was at a normal temperature, he nodded and then said "Alright Naruto, put her down by that tree, let's give her some food and then we'll see if she can function properly" Naruto did as he was instructed and placed her softly on the ground, then he put his own hand on her forehead to feel for himself if she was indeed at a normal temperature. Hinata, being Hinata, blushed profusely. 

 

"Na-Naruto, I-I'm fine, I just have a slight headache, that's all" Naruto looked into her white eyes and she into his deep blue orbs and then he nodded and stroked her hair. She blushed even deeper. Naruto then stood up and Shikamaru bent down in front of her, he then asked a few questions about how she was feeling, a few more questions about basic ninja tactics and skills, weaponry etc. 

 

"Well, it seems like she's fine, but we should watch her closely to see if anything negative happens" He then turned to Hinata again "Do you want to go to the medic?" Hinata shook her head and then tried to stand up, Naruto instantly leaned down to help her, he put his arm around her waist and hoisted her up against his side "Can you stand?" he asked, concern evident in his eyes, Hinata looked down at the floor and tried to stand by herself, she was a bit shaky but found that she could 

 

"Y-yes, thank you Naruto" she then smiled up at him and he grinned back. Shikamaru coughed to try and break up the grinning contest that was happening in front of him 

 

"Shall we go?" Naruto and Hinata nodded, she took a step forward but her legs gave out from under her and she fell backwards and almost hit the ground but Naruto caught her in his strong arms before she did, Naruto laughed and Shikamaru even gave a light chuckle and Hinata blushed, then looked up at Naruto and laughed a sweet girlish laugh, Naruto grinned even more 

 

"See, isn't it better to just laugh?"

 

________________________________________________________________________

 

Neji, Tenten, Ino and Kiba had just started traveling again after taking a lunch break, they were racing through the trees and were only four miles from the border to the next country. However, they had to pass through rogue country first. There were dangers in rogue country, dangers that needed to be heeded with caution.

 

"Ok, everyone we need to get some information here in rogue country, we'll split up into two groups and sweep the town to try and get anything we can on Akatsuki, and this is a criminal country so finding something shouldn't be too hard. Ok, Tenten, you come with me, Ino, you go with Kiba, meet at the final border in one hour." The group dissipated into their groups at Neji's command.

 

"Hey, let's try that bar first" Ino said as she dragged Kiba by his jacket sleeve into the said bar. 

 

"Wow. This place is a dump." Kiba whistled as he and Ino stepped into the dusty bar. Its occupants included a man that had close to about two teeth in his whole mouth and a walking stick, a dirty man with dirt all over his clothes and body and a bartender who proceeded to wipe down a glass that was beyond ever being clean. Ino lifted her nose slightly at the dwellers, Akamaru growled and Kiba moved a little closer to Ino with a protective hand placed on her lower back. Ino shifted slightly backwards into Kiba's hand, even she wasn't dumb enough to be vulnerable in places like this.

 

Finally Kiba moved them forward to the bar and leaned over it 

 

"Hey, I got a few questions for you, if you don't mind" Kiba directed his attention to the bartender. The bartender grunted and put the glass down, then made his way over to Kiba. 

 

"Yeah, what you want, if this is about that punk down the street, I had nothing to do with it!" the bartender raised his hands in a defensive pose 

 

"No, it's not" Kiba dismissed his little "admittance" and proceeded to speak, "we were wondering if maybe you'd heard anything suspicious in relation to…Akatsuki" Kiba looked around before whispering 'Akatsuki' to the bartender, Ino stared the bartender down before he answered 

 

"L-look, I'm just a bartender, I don't know anything about nothing" the bartender tried to step away from Kiba and pretend he wasn't there but Kiba leaned over the bar and grabbed him by the shirt, pulling him very close to his face 

 

"Listen here! Unless you want your legs cut off from your body and fed to Akamaru here, you better speak, because we know you know something! Got it?" Kiba's face was mere inches away from the bartenders and he could see the fear in his eyes. Ino acted disinterested in the situation and peered around the bar, taking I all of its members and noting anything suspicious 

 

"O-ok, well, sometimes, some guys come in here and they talk about Akatsuki, I haven't seen any of the actual Akatsuki before but they say that their secret "Fire Base", is what they called it, I don't know what that means, but they say that it's just on the border of the Fire country and that it's underground, also they were saying that it had tunnels leading to almost all the other country's borders. It sounded a bit farfetched to me, but maybe they were right…" Kiba smiled a mischievous smile and lowered the bartender from his grip and fixed his shirt up 

 

"Thank you, now, was that so hard?" the bartender shook his head profusely. Ino smiled at the bartender as well, and then the three left the bar.

 

"Well, that was fun." Kiba exclaimed as he put his arms behind his head and walked down the street 

 

"Ok, well, time flies when you're having fun, we need to meet at the final border in 15 minutes, so, let's go." Ino told him, and then poked him in the side 

 

"Hey! You better watch it, or you'll get something you didn't wish for" Kiba growled playfully 

 

"Ooh, I'm so scared" Ino mock shivered and then Kiba stopped and looked at her, slowly crouching into a 'hunting' position 

 

"Ready Akamaru" the dog also lowered himself next the Kiba. 

 

"K-Kiba, what are you doing?" Ino's voice was covered in confusion and fear "Giving you what you wished for" Ino's eyes widened and she started running down the street and an extremely fast pace, with Kiba and Akamaru just behind her 

 

"STOP!" Ino's screams filled the street as she ran. Kiba laughed, at the end of the street it broke off into a field, Ino quickly darted into the field and hoped she could make it into the trees at the other end and then finally the border, where Neji and Tenten would hopefully protect her from Kiba's wrath.

 

Halfway through the field, Ino's foot got clamped in something, she fell down and hit her head on a hard patch of ground. Kiba's face immediately lost all its playfulness and he ran straight to her. The sun was shining in her eyes, so she tried to cover them but it was too bright. Kiba made it to Ino and leaned over her, effectively blocking the sun, 

 

"Are you alright Ino?" Ino looked up at Kiba and her stomach fluttered slightly 

 

"I am now" she smiled slightly and Kiba grinned at her 

 

"Where does it hurt?" Kiba looked her over to see if there was any blood. 

 

"I hit my head really hard, and also I tripped over something, just help me up so I can take a look at my foot" Kiba put his arm behind her head and lifted her slowly. Looking at her foot, it had a cut going all the way around her ankle and a chakra infused wire wrapped around it. 

 

"Ooh, that looks bad" Kiba observed, he then put his other arm under her legs and lifted her off the ground, 

 

"Kiba, I'm sure I can walk" Ino tried to defend herself. 

 

"And I'm sure it will hurt like hell, so just sit back and enjoy the ride,” Ino huffed but curled into Kiba anyway. 

 

"So, are you finally starting to see the awesomeness of my manly body?" Ino giggled and then slapped him softly on the chest 

 

"Oh, yes definitely. No! Why would you think that?" Ino giggled again and then looked up at him, shielding her eyes from the sun 

 

"Because, when I asked you if you were alright…" Kiba looked forward into the trees "you said 'I am now'" Kiba put on a girly accent when he repeated Ino's line, Ino chuckled and curled into him more 

 

"Maybe I am starting to see the awesomeness of your 'manly' body" she chuckled lightly and then breathed into his chest, Kiba laughed and pulled her closer 

 

"Be a bit more careful next time…"

 

________________________________________________________________________

 

Sakura had reached the border of the Fire country, but by this time it was already dark and she had started to set up a camp, she was lucky enough to find a clearing with a stream nearby, so she could wash off the days worries.

 

After setting out her mat and starting a fire she walked to the stream and stripped off all her clothes and climbed in. The water was cold on her heated skin. She wet her hair, and washed all the girt and grime off of her body, and then got out of the water and dried herself off. Putting her clothes back on, she went back to her camp.

 

As soon as she stepped through the trees into the glow of the fire, she knew something was wrong. She prepared herself for an attack and put a kunai into her hand. 

 

Taking her stance she screamed "Come out!" and then her eyes widened at what she saw…

 

________________________________________________________________________

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This is the first story I ever posted on FF.net. I haven't re-read it so I'm not entirely sure whether it's any good - so please bear with me. There are some major formatting issues because I had to grab this fic from my old pc and it was in some weird notepad format so everything has been squished together. I'm getting round to fixing it. Please be patient with me - I'm such a noob right now :'( 
> 
> Also, please excuse the general crappiness of my writing in this fic, I was quite young when I wrote it - about 14 - but I'm older now, so all the other fic that I'll be transferring from FF.net will be better written :D
> 
> Snow.


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